Tuesday, 29 December 2015

In the early morning before daylight we came into the harbor
at San Diego, in through the narrow passage, and we followed the
lights on a changing course to the pier. All about us war bustled,
although we had no war; steel and thunder, powder and men ---the
men preparing thoughtlessly, like dead men, to destroy things. The
planes roared over in formation and the submarines were quiet and
ominous. There is no playfulness in a submarine. The military mind
must limit its thinking to be able to perform its function at all.
Thus, in talking with a naval officer who had won a target
competition with big naval guns, we asked, "Have you thought what
happens in a little street when one of your shells explodes, of the
families town to pieces, a thousand generations influenced, when you
signalled Fire?" "Of course not," he said. "Those shells travel so
far that you couldn't possibly see where they land." And he was
quite correct. If he could really see where they land and what they
do, if he could really feel the power in his dropped hand and the
waves radiating out from his gun, he could not be able to perform
his function. He himself would be the weak point of his gun. But
by not seeing, by insisting that it be a problem of ballistics and
trajectory, he is a good gunnery officer. And he is too humble to
take the responsibility for thinking. The whole structure of his
world would be endangered if he permitted himself to think. The
pieces must stick within their pattern or the whole thing collapses
and the design is gone. We wonder whether in the present pattern
the pieces are not straining to fall out of line; whether the paradoxes
of our times are not finally mounting to a conclusion of
ridiculousness that will make the whole structure collapse. For the
paradoxes are becoming so great that leaders of people must be less
and less intelligent to stand their own leadership.

Monday, 28 December 2015

The best hours to walk leisure in Ahmedabad city is probably in the wee hours of morning when the dusk is changing into dawn. The dust in the air and the traffic on the roads is at its minimum lowest. Perfect time to walk. But, a lot of Gujaratees complained long ago that the Cantontement authorities won't let them through their gates. Is it not a free country?

No, not when you aunties put on your nighties and go for your morning walk. And, worse you guys are scattered all over. Later, the streets will have your badly shaven husbands.

Sunday, 20 December 2015

Pop Art is a well known form of art after it was noticed and accepted in British 50s and American counterpart ways as a movement. In my opinion, infusion and inclusion of popular culture expressions into a work of art is how it is manifested finally. In India, the dusty and hot East, Pop Art has been existing in abundance after the movement, mainly from the post independence (post colonial?) filmy cultures, and subsequently Mumbai's Filmistaan becoming one of the major hubs. While, Filmistaan has moved ahead with modern times and embraced modern technologies, and is now called BollyWood, the importance of Art , 'Pop Art', in this case has been left somewhere behind in the backseat. In this myriad of increased demand, consumption, pomp and money, Mr. Pop shows up infrequently now. So, the good thing is Pop still exists, and provides limitless opportunities which can be Popp'd, !

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Now, this one is difficulter to explain so as to memorize- Milquetoast.

Yes, you got it right. Milk plus toast. A noun here, which means- a spineless or a timid guy. The word's origin is not even hundred year old, and comes from a character called Caspar Milquetoast, the protagonist of the cartoon strip The Timid Soul, by American cartoonist, H. T. Webster.

I will strongly suggest looking at a few cartoons to eternally memorize the meaning of the word.

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

I have subscribed to a daily mail from dictionary.com which basically sends me one new word in my inbox to know of. I have made this subscription with the intent to improve my vocabulary; and, because I have very low -- I honestly mean really low -- memory retention capacity, all I do is get to know the word and soon I have forgotten the meaning of this word. I have been unable to digest this daily staple or knowledge. Maybe, what I should do is blame my current surroundings and environment where I cannot retain the word like 'Antediluvian' because it has no real use or is a redundant word here in my climate zone; but then, if the word such as Antediluvian is useful to me perhaps in future, at least for the sake of improved literary capacities I must probably resort to internet, and make use of things like emails, chats, blogs, facebook or all. Ah! another idea- I can have some quality conversation with my wife, or I can make a random phone call to people who love or like literature; at least one conversation a day with someone known, unknown or bygone. ByGoid I wouldn't have got this idea had I not started writing this- blog. Man, I love writing!!
So, today, the word I got in my inbox is antediluvian
( Audio Pronunciation )
\an-tee-di-LOO-vee-uhn\
, is an
adjective,
and means:
1. Of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood.
2. very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive: antediluvian

And, dissect the word Antediluvian,
- Ante is Latin for something before or something preceding,
- ian is like a suffix giving a time, event or a person a general larger identity,

hence, 'Ante .... ian', which isunt a complete word unless there is something between. The closest word I am getting from my plenty of education and experience, that is why some memory is there, is 'deluge' which I can put in between. So, let us go to old times and instead of calling the word 'deluge' call it 'diluv' instead.
Hence,
Ante + diluvee + ian
or,
Antediluvian

Remember, there are three words to be kept in mind and in an arranged manner now. Also remember, an additional adjective is always worth if it is handy in your ready to use vocabulary arsenal. I hope this has blog has helped the reader, and ironically I am still just too distracted. After all this dissecting and exploring, and repeated writing of the word 'antediluvian', I still wonder the word will stay in my memory for good enough long time.

***
p.s. after all these edits, spell-checks and revisions, an example on how to use Antediluvian comes to my mind- It seems India's policy makers are making their decisions based on an Antediluvian mind set.

Saturday, 12 December 2015

Generally I find quoted quotes, and even most originals, purty quoty, that is good to know, and that is it. But, I am amazed by this one original by Colonel Gautam. In verbatim:

Traditionally, in India, when a child is born, his/her birth is celebrated based on the gender, but those who are blessed with person with disability, their celebration starts with the well being (physical and mental health) of the child. They wait for the cry of the child and sucking of mother's feed or any such existing activity for the newly born baby. They never think of gender.

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

How can letters or words be made to dance and so make an interesting sentence? How can then these be danced to make a whole comprehensible piece of a paragraph or writing? What works to make all this work?

So, why are there questions when there is no need for any answer? Is it lack of structure? Or, just lack of inspiration?

Is there some static force in play leading me to a status quo or a vacuum? Or, is there some too much vague movement to handle- dance or no-dance?